Category: Devotion

“Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, ‘Crucify, crucify him!’ A third time he said to them, ‘Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.’ But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.”
Luke 23:20-24

Three times Pilate affirmed Jesus’ innocence: “What evil has he done?” But the crowd kept shouting, “Crucify him!” And there’s Jesus, standing in silence. He is the spotless Lamb, led to slaughter. Soon, the shouting match ends with the headstrong demand of the crowd prevailing over Pilate’s plea.

Shouting matches rarely turn out well. We desire to be heard over our neighbor. We want things our way and blame others for our mistakes. Like the crowds, we shout against all authority in what we say and do. Like Pilate we desperately want our plea for the innocent to be heard, but too quickly give up to sin’s demands. This Lententide, repent and see the Lord of Life, giving Himself up on His cross for our sin and punished with our death.

O dearest Jesus, what law hast Thou broken? That such sharp sentence should on Thee be spoken? Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, willingly gave Himself over to the cross to pay for your crimes and die for your sins. And in the end, Jesus has the last word. In His resurrected glory He announces that your sins are forgiven.

Let us pray: O crucified Lord of Glory, for our crimes and transgressions You went to the cross to die. Grant us repentant hearts that we may recognize You as our substitute in Your cross and passion, that in Your death we receive life. It is in Your name we pray. Amen.

(Jeffrey Kyler, Sem. IV)

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20

One might speak of a great annoyance as the “bane of my existence,” but for Christ His bane went way beyond any burden we could ever bear. His bane, that which caused him death, ruin, and woe, was the cross. He felt the pain for the punishment for all your sin.

But His love for you runs deeper than the nails that pierced His body, for from them flowed a well of blood that has washed you clean. Jesus hanging on the cross for you is your greatest blessing and pleasure. He interceded for you and you were right there with Him. It is true what Martin Luther says: “By faith you are so cemented to Christ that He and you are as one person.”

Your sinful flesh met its end on the cross and now you live by faith. You are united to Jesus through your baptism into His death and so He is with you as you bear the crosses of this life. Since Jesus bore the cross in your place, He is yoked together with you day by day, making your burdens joyfully light. Because of His love, by faith we rejoice in counting our crosses as our blessings and pleasures.

Let us pray: Dear Lord Jesus, by Your crucifixion we have peace that knows no measure. Abide with us as we bear our crosses in this life so that we may rejoice in knowing that You are bearing them with us, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Carl Wendorff, Sem. IV)

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:7

What’s the best way to tell if you’re underdressed for an occasion? If your Emily Post isn’t available, then look around and see what the others are wearing. What about God? Are you dressed to meet Him? The best way to tell is to look at what He’s wearing.

In 1 John 1:5, John says, “God is light.” That means God is clothed in purity, not in deception. God never lies, cheats, or swindles. Therefore, He has never lied to you. He has revealed that you by nature dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Therefore, repent and walk in the light, dear Christian. Put away lying, cheating, and stealing. Put away showing partiality. Put away pride in yourself, which is pure self-deception, that you may have fellowship with all people, both friends and enemies.

However, walking in the light will not save you. John says that the blood of Jesus cleanses you. Just the blood of the One whose cross is the light of the world, Who clothes you joyfully with His blood.

Let us pray: Gracious Father, You are light but I am darkness, born a child of darkness and a sinner. I need Your mercy. Let Your Spirit lead me in the way of repentance that I may not lie to myself or others but may walk in the light and enjoy cleansing through Your Son’s blood, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Kyle Richardson, Sem. IV)

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Galatians 6:14

We love feeling satisfaction in a job well done. It is that feeling which often keeps us going on the job, in the classroom, or with a home project. Indeed, we crave it and delight in it. Yet what happens when satisfaction and contentment are no longer enough? It is then that we begin to boast and glory in ourselves and our work for others to notice, so we may have their praise and avoid their persecution. We often find much in our lives to boast in: Our job, our money, our marriage and children, our pedigree, or our piety and what we gave up for Lent. We can even glory and boast in the love, kindness, and charity we show to others—which, then, makes those acts none of those things. However, the reality is that whatever we boast in, it all leads to the same place: ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We may avoid persecution; we may gain worldly glory; but on our own, we cannot avoid death.

Which is why St. Paul reminds us today that the only true glorying and boasting is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Baptized into Christ’s death, the world has been crucified to us. We no longer desire its praise or fear its persecution, but, in the salvation Christ won for us, we eagerly wait for the day when we will arise anew and hear Him tell us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” So that when we leave the Lord’s Table Sunday after Sunday, we can then go out and truly fast, pray, love others, and live an honest life without seeking the praise of the world. Because we know where our true glory and salvation is and always will be: in Christ and Him crucified.

Let us Pray: Heavenly Father, in our Baptism keep our eyes fixed on the cross of Your Son so that we may always glory and boast in Him alone, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Michael McGinley Sem. IV)

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”
Numbers 21:8-9

When the Israelites grumbled against Moses and God, saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” they declared God to be a liar. He had promised to care and provide for them all the way to the Promised Land, but they failed to realize that they had all that they needed. The Lord then sent as punishment fiery serpents who would kill many Israelites with a deadly bite. However, as soon as the people repented over their false charge against their merciful God, He had Moses furnish a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole so that all who looked upon it after having been bitten would live.

The bronze serpent, of course, isn’t what saved them, but God’s Word attached to it. Similarly, God calls us to look upon His incarnate Word, Christ the Crucified, who hung upon the cross to reconcile us grumbling sinners to our God, that we may be renewed to trust again in His promises to care and provide for us here and now on our way to the eternal Promised Land.

Let us pray: Most merciful God, grant us a steadfast faith that trusts Your promise that whoever believes in Your only Son should not perish, but have eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Zachary Courie, Sem. IV)

“And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destory the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!’”
Mark 15:29-30.

Has something you’ve said ever been used against you? Maybe you said something gloatingly on an emotional high or something hurtful to someone in a moment of weakness. You might have felt great or even justified when you said it, but when those words came back at you, boy oh boy, do they ever sting! Anyone who’s experienced this has had the sickening feelings of guilt and shame, and thought, “I wish I never said that.”

We know that Jesus said He could rebuild the temple in three days (John 2:19-20). The people accusing Jesus twisted this phrase and His teaching to accuse Him of blasphemy (Mark. 14:58). The people passing by Jesus on the cross used His own words against Him as ridicule, to show their victory, that “justice” had been done. Was Jesus thinking, “I wish I never said that?”

Our sinful condition leads us to keep heaping insults on Jesus and our neighbor and our mouths pour out hurtful words and white lies. Yet Jesus’ silence to the insults is even more powerful, because by His resurrection we know that if what truly goes around comes around, we’d be the ones suffering and dying. We deserve our insults and every hurtful thing to be hurled back on us; we know that no deceit was found in His mouth because He committed no sin.

Yet even though He was without sin, Jesus did not come down from the cross. He saved us by not saving himself. God let what we sinfully sent around come around on His Son, so that we may in all joy and trembling not have to endure its devastating consequence. Thanks be to God that when we confess Jesus’ saving death, it’s something we want to keep saying again and again.

Let us pray: Lord, guide my tongue to speak only that which is true and good before You and all heaven, that in doing so I praise and glorify Your saving name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Joseph McCalley Sem. IV)

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:4-5

Have you ever had to carry a burden for another? Maybe a close family member had an illness or some disability, and you found yourself struggling to care for their needs on top of your own. Maybe a loved one confided in you a personal struggle they were having, and you felt the weight of that problem pressing down on you as your heart went out to them and you offered them encouraging words and lifted them in prayer. As believers in Christ, we are called to carry the burdens of one another. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). In so doing, God uses us as His instruments of love and mercy to help others in their earthly afflictions.

Christ knew what it was to bear the burdens of others. But He did not stop at bearing the pain of illness or personal struggles–He bore the weight of our every sin. He was pierced for us…crushed for our iniquities. When we bear another’s suffering, we’ve given them temporary relief. But when Christ bore the pain of all on the cross, He won for us eternal relief. He defeated sin, death, and the devil and He won us peace with our heavenly Father. He is our Blest Redeemer, and we owe to Him our deepest gratitude and love for all He has done and continues to do for us.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, we owe You everything for bearing our sins on the cross and for taking the punishment that we so justly deserved. In this Lenten season, let us daily remember Your finished work that we may strive to live in a way that honors and glorifies Your holy name, now and forever. Amen.

(Daniel Harrington, Sem II)

“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray’…And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’”
Matthew 26:36, 39

What is this cup that Jesus speaks of? Listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering…These two things have happened to you—who will console you?—devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?” (Isa. 51:17, 19).

The One who will comfort us is the true Son born of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth. He is here in the Garden of Gethsemane to take His people by the hand and completely drink the cup in their place. This is His father’s will.

In His anguish over His impending doom, what does He do? Does He go out for one last night on the town? Does He go down to the convenience store to buy something that might take the edge off what He knows is coming? No. In His sorrow and anguish Jesus comes before His Father in prayer saying, “Thy will be done.” Thanks be to God that Jesus did drink this cup! By suffering and death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Scripture has been fulfilled that says, “Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: ‘Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more’” (Isa. 51:22).

Let us pray: Almighty God, merciful Father, continue to guide Your people, whom You have redeemed by the precious blood of Your Son, so that we may always be safe from the powers of this world that desire our destruction; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Stanley Lacey, Sem. II)

“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:8

The hymn writer Ernst Homburg used a strange word in today’s stanza: “Doom.” He used the word “doom” to describe the end of our lives, saying, “That my doom should be prevented.” We usually use “doom” to mean “destruction,” “downfall,” or “ruin.” And in a sense that’s right. Homburg describes what happens to us because of our sinful condition. But “doom” also means “judgement” or “placement.” Because of our sinful condition, the place we all must go to is the grave.

This stanza of the Lenten hymn invites us to think about how our Lord Jesus came “for us men and for our salvation.” Jesus humbled Himself and became a servant unto death (Phil. 2:8). What does it mean that He was a servant? A servant is someone who provides for a need or a want. But Jesus does much more than that. In His service for us, Jesus has brought us out of death and into life. It means that He endured all the punishment we deserved, not only pain, agony, and death, but the wrath of God against our sin. He suffered all of the torments that should be ours. He took our sin upon Himself, and bore its full weight even unto death. On the cross, His precious blood was poured out as a pure sacrifice (Eph. 5:2), to give us life in place of death.

Let us pray: Lord God, heavenly Father, You sent Your only Son to take on our flesh and serve us in His death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb. Have mercy on us and look not upon our disobedience but look upon Your Son who was obedient for our sake, even unto death. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Chris Durham, Sem. II)